


I Can Show You the World

by callmeonetrack



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Disney!Pilots, F/M, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 13:39:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9274499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeonetrack/pseuds/callmeonetrack
Summary: Teenage Kara and Lee meet each other working at Space Mountain.





	

_The happiest place on Earth, my ass_ , Kara thought, as she shot a ferocious look at her boss.

Saul Tigh was having none of it though. “Just get up there and fix the damn thing,” he said in a low growl. “We got a houseful of snot-nosed brats just dying to get their thrills on Space Mountain. It’ll be your ass on the line with Guest Services, if we have to shut down and they go crying to Mommy and Daddy.”

She glared at him, but just grabbed the Maglite off the shelf and stomped off towards the general vicinity of the catwalk. 

“And take the new kid with you.”

Kara stopped and turned, one hand planted on her hip and the other raised victoriously in an incredibly obscene gesture. Saul was blind as a bat in one eye, the one conveniently facing her, and he just turned back to the waiting queue where the new guy—Adams? Anders?—was standing all goggle-eyed. Her boss jerked a thumb over his shoulder in Kara’s direction and tilted his head at the kid. “Go on. Ain’t got all day.”

Kara barely waited for him to stumble forward before she turned back around and moved on, starting to climb the thin metal ladder to the catwalk. She stopped halfway up and swung down and back, hanging from one arm as she shined the flashlight into the startled face of the rookie. “Stop staring at my ass.”

In the bright white light, he flushed, a sheepish, guilty look on his face, despite his protests. “I wasn’t—I mean, not, you know, on purpose. But…” he waved a hand, vaguely gesturing to their respective positions on the ladder, “it’s kind of hard to miss.”

He looked all twisted up and Kara bit back a grin. Maybe she’d finally get to have a little fun today. “What’s your name, new guy?”

“Lee. Lee Adama.”

She moved the flashlight, taking her first real look at the fresh meat. His eyes were a bright blue under the beam, and Kara took in high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and a possible addiction to hair gel. He was hot, but she bet he was the kind of guy that knew it.  “Well, Lee Adama, hope you like mountain climbing. Try to keep up.”

They traveled up the long ladder and edged out carefully on the thin catwalk that lead to the small dark operations room near the pinnacle of the building. There was no railing up here, which was undoubtedly some kind of health and safety violation, but Kara didn’t mind. She liked seeing that the massive candy-colored amusement park still had a dark underbelly tucked away in hidden corners. Still, she’d better warn—

Too late. There was a yelp behind her and Kara twisted, her hand shooting out fast and grabbing a handful of shirt and flesh to yank the guy back up onto solid ground with her. Lee fell against her and they thudded heavily into the wall. Kara winced as her shoulder, bruised already from her mother’s “lesson” the night before, twinged in pain. Lee’s face was close, too close, and he frowned when she gasped. He opened his mouth to say something, but Kara got there first. “God, get off me, you oaf.”

“Sorry! Are you- Are you alright, Kara?” 

There was concern in his tone, and those wide blue eyes, and it was too much from this stranger. Why the hell was he calling her _Kara_ anyway, like he knew her, like he knew a damn thing about her life? “I didn’t tell you my name,” she snapped.

He straightened and moved away but he rolled his eyes while he did it, surprising Kara. “I have eyes, don’t I?” Indeed, he did. “Your _nametag_ kind of gave it away.” Oh…. _right_. “Anyway, thanks,” Lee looked back over his shoulder and down at the tracks laying about 25 feet below them.  Turning back to Kara, he cocked an eyebrow and smiled, deep enough that she could see dimples creasing his cheeks. It transformed his whole face and she forgot to breathe for a second.  “I think you might have just saved my life.” 

Kara took a breath and thought for all of five seconds about demanding a reward, but just shrugged. “Everyone’s got a skill. Come on.”

She wrenched open the door to the little room and stepped in, Lee on her heels. Kara could already see the breaker for the ride had been toggled and she dashed over and wrenched the gearshift into place. She heard the telltale squeal of the coaster lurching into motion again then turned back to leave, and then everything moved into slow motion as Lee let go of the door. “DON’T LET IT—“

Again she was too late, as the heavy steel door—the heavy steel door with _no handle on the inside_ —slammed behind her with a clang. “Shut.” She closed her eyes. Was it even humanly possible for this day to get any fucking worse? “Goddamnit.”

“Hey, you could’ve warned me! How was I supposed to know?”

“One look, genius,” she ranted. “That’s all it would’ve taken.”

“Why the hell would I think to check for a door handle?” he shouted back. “They’re pretty much standard in the rest of the world.”

“This isn’t the rest of the world, though. It’s Disneyland,” Kara said through gritted teeth, as she waved her fists in a little faux-dance move. “Happiest place on Earth, or haven’t you heard?”

He grimaced. “Yeah well, so far, I’m demanding a refund.” Lee sighed. “So, now what?”

She crossed her arms. “Now we wait, and hope that asshole remembers that we’re up here.”

“I suppose it could be worse,” he said, after a moment. Kara raised an eyebrow. “We could’ve gotten stuck in the It’s a Small World ride.”

She felt her lips quirking upwards despite her bad temper, and Kara huffed a laugh. “Point to you, Adama.”

She looked around the small room filled with machinery and grease and not much else, trying to find a place to get comfortable for the duration. Finally she gave up, headed for the table edge that looked the least filthy and went to sit.

“WAIT!”

Kara jerked back in surprise, and only grew more so, her eyes widening as she watched Lee step forward and pull off the bulky sweatshirt he was wearing. He had one of those muscle tanks on underneath, and she was distracted for a minute by the fact that it was showing off some very nice ones indeed. When she finally pulled her eyes away from his biceps, she found him staring at her expectantly, his sweatshirt draped over the dirty plastic of the tabletop.

Kara’s gaze swung between his face and the shirt, puzzled for a moment until she got it, and then something in her chest twisted a little, burning as she blinked and took a breath. Kara had hit puberty early…and made the most of it. She’d been out—or more often in—with lots of guys in the years since.Not one of ‘em had ever done anything like this.

Kara shook her head, feeling off-balance suddenly. She sank down gingerly, sitting tentatively on the spread fabric like it might rear up and bite her. She was grateful for the gesture, but also embarrassed by it. Like he’d gotten her mixed up with one of those stupid princess girls always prancing around here with their big frouffy dresses, and her voice came out harder than she’d meant it to. “Well, aren’t you just a regular Prince Charming.”

He blushed, and it was sort of cute actually, but then he frowned and looked away, muttering “Your jeans look new. Just figured you wouldn’t want them to get dirty.”

They _were_ new. They were fancy designer ones too. Normally Kara didn’t give a shit about her clothes, but her mother had uncharacteristically bought her these on a rare shopping trip for new school clothes the week before. Of course, they’d been handed to her with some threats about punishment if they got ripped or dirty.It’d been her own little satisfying act of defiance after last night’s fight to wear them here today, but she hadn’t really thought she’d get dirty, and she definitely wasn’t in the mood for another one of her mother’s lectures. Lectures that came with slapping hands and pinching fingers…or worse sometimes.

Not that she was about to tell the new kid any of this though. He was still looking around the room, likely for a spot to perch where _his_ pressed khakis could stay pristine. Kara snorted at the thought and grabbed his arm, shifting over slightly and tugging him down to sit on the spread shirt next to her. Then she purposely bumped his shoulder, “Oh, so you were just looking at my jeans, not my ass before, huh?”

She grinned when he flushed again, the tips of his ears turning pink.

“Wouldn’t have actually taken you to be a fashionista, Lee,” she drawled, having a little fun now as her eyes skipped down to his unfortunate brown loafers. “Not with those shoes at least.”

“Hey!” He bumped her shoulder back, but he was smiling.

“Anyway, thanks.” She studied his face, earnest and watchful despite the grin. His gaze was kind of intense, she realized. Lee looked at her like actually gave a crap about what she had to say. It was enough of a novelty that Kara changed her mind, took a breath and said lightly, “My mom’d have a shit fit if I came home with grease stains.”

His face changed and he nodded like he _understood_ , and something clenched in Kara’s stomach. “Your mom like that?” Was her voice shaking? “I mean, just, nuts over the small shit and all.”

Something passed fleetingly over Lee’s face, but she couldn’t read it. “No,” he paused. “No, she wouldn’t notice. She doesn’t really notice anything.”

There was a flatness to his voice that made Kara sure there was more he wasn’t saying. But this conversation had gotten sour, heavy. The maintenance closet suddenly seemed even smaller than before. Time to change the subject.

“So, what’s your story Lee Adama?” She wished she had her smokes, but she’d left him in her leather jacket, back in her locker. She twisted the thin braided cord around her wrist with nervous fingers. “How’d you end up in good ole’ Kissimmee working for the Mouse?”

He didn’t answer right away, even though he was looking right at her. Not at her eyes though, she realized.He was staring at her mouth. Kara smirked, because she’d seen that look before. Maybe this kid wasn’t the complete dorkfest she thought. She licked her lips just to watch his eyes track the motion of her tongue. Then huffed a laugh and snapped her fingers at him, Lee blinked, then refocused. “My dad’s in the air force. We move a lot.” He grimaced. “This is my sixth new city in three years.”

Kara’s eyes widened. A military brat like her. It surprised her somehow.

“My mom’s a marine sergeant. Been to four high schools the last two years,” she paused, grinned with all her teeth, “got kicked out of three of ’em.”

“Yeah?” He looked at her, appraisingly. “I probably don’t want to know what for, huh?”

“I could tell you, but then...” She tilted her head apologetically but smirked.

“You’d have to kill me?” He grinned again, another hint of dimple flashing, and Kara looked at him and thought of a whole host of better ideas of what to do with him. __

“Something like that,” she muttered, and leaned a little closer, acutely aware of the heat of his thigh pressing against hers.

“Anyway, my dad said it was time I get a job.” He frowned. “Said it would ‘build character’.”

Kara cringed. She’d heard that phrase plenty of times from her mother. It was never a good thing.

“So how’d _you_ end up working here?” His mouth twisted a little. “You don’t really strike me as the cheerful mouseketeer type.”

“Not so much.” She shrugged. “Uncle Saul got me the job, and it pays—”

“Wait! Our boss, he’s your uncle?” Lee’s eyes were wide. “But you flipped him off and called him an asshole.”

Kara sneered a bit. “I didn’t say I liked the guy.” Saul Tigh was her mother’s brother, and he _was_ an asshole. “But it pays decent.” If she could manage to stick it out through the school year, she’d have enough. Enough to get out of here, go far, far away. She lifted a shoulder again. “Besides, it beats being—”

“At home?” Lee finished, eyes round and questioning, his voice strangely soft. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”

Kara looked at him, with his sad, serious face, and she knew somehow that he did. She was surprised to realize that she _liked_ him, this Lee Adama. Sure, he was kind of a dork, all awkward and shit underneath the pretty face and the muscles, but she liked talking to him. Kara wasn’t big on conversation usually, but there was something about him. He was easy to talk to. She was shocked to find she wanted to do more of it.

“You know, this joint’s not half bad once all the rugrats and their parents clear out.”

“When exactly does that happen?” He grimaced. “I’ve been thrown up on twice this week, so far.”

“At night. They have these extra magic hours, where the park stays open till like 2 or 3 am, but almost no one sticks around that late usually. After midnight, you pretty much get it all to yourself.”

He nodded. “Sounds cool.”

“Next one’s tomorrow,” Kara said, pausing. “You working?”

“Till nine.”

“Me too,” she swallowed hard. “You should meet me after. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

His eyebrow raised and he just looked at her for an endless moment, and Kara’s stomach twisted and she felt ridiculous. “One condition.”

She took a breath, narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?”

“No _It’s a Small World_.”

Her stomach dropped back down to her gut and she laughed.

“It’s my little brother’s favorite. I had to ride that crack fantasy three times in a row. I can still hear the damn song in the back of my head. It won’t go away!”

Kara cackled at the look on his face, doubling forward as the giggles hit her, and nearly slipped off the edge of the table. Lee grabbed her just before she fell, an arm circling her waist and pulling her back. “Whoa, careful.”

Kara splayed a hand against his chest, for balance, but when she settled back into place, Lee didn’t drop his arm, and she didn’t move her hand. When she tilted her head up, he was looking down at her, eyes fixed on her mouth again. Kara’s stomach clenched again, not from nerves but anticipation now, and instinct took over. Her fingers curled in the thin cotton of his tank and she leaned in, feeling like the world was moving in slow motion. She could smell his cologne or aftershave or maybe it was just him, Lee, sweet and musky filling her nose, and Kara wet her lips. Lee’s arm tightened around her, his hand curving around her hip, fingers pressing deeper. Her nose bumped his, and she tilted and he tilted and…

_Creeeeakkkkkk._

The heavy iron door swung open and Saul was there, already barking as they jumped apart, sprung up to their feet. Kara’s heart was racing, and she tried to catch her breath, as Lee grabbed his sweatshirt and tugged it on, despite the big black grease line over the shoulders. They followed their boss out of the maintenance room, getting an earful about carelessness and responsibility the whole way back down to the ride platform. When her uncle finally moved away to ream out some kid who was trying to sneak under the bar, she chanced a look at Lee. He cocked his head in Saul’s direction and nodded, mouthing the word “asshole” and Kara grinned.

Space Mountain was the park’s most popular ride, and the lines were long the rest of the afternoon. Kara got off at six, but Lee was still on duty for a few more hours. She lingered a little, getting her things together, trying not to be obvious about it, and wondered if she’d been stupid before, misreading things. Lee was probably only being nice. The doubts grew and she scowled as she headed for the exit, convinced she’d made a complete ass out of herself. But then she heard, “Hey, Kara!”

Lee. She turned.

His smile was wide, eyes bright blue against the darkness of the tunnel behind him. “Tomorrow at nine, right? You promised me a tour.”

He’d said it loudly enough that heads turned her way, including her uncle’s. But even Saul Tigh’s perpetually sour face wasn’t enough to wipe the grin off Kara’s face. “It’s a date.”

***

By nine o’clock, the crowds in the park had thinned out considerably and there were hardly any lines left at all by the time Kara had finished taking Lee on the first leg of the tour. They’d scoffed down Funnel Cake in Liberty Square, split one of those enormous rice krispie treats with the icing from the Main Street Bakery, and made it one ear into a Mickey Bar before Lee cried mercy and tossed the rest in the trash.

He groaned. “Are you sure all that was a good idea _before_ the rides? Just the metrorail might make me puke at this point.”

Kara grinned at him and slapped his stomach lightly, prompting a pained exhalation from Lee, as she polished off her own ice cream bar and tossed the stick into a nearby trash can. “Gotta fuel up, Adama. We’ve got a big night ahead.” She lowered her voice deliberately, half-closed her eyes, and said. “You’re going to need the energy.”

He flushed, which was half the reason she’d done it, and Kara laughed, and said “Come on.” She had a plan.

They started small, cramming themselves into the slow kiddy rides in Fantasyland, where Kara kept up a stream of increasingly dirty jokes about what was really in Winnie the Pooh’s “honey pot”. Then they hit the Haunted Mansion and even though Kara only screamed for fun when the lights went out and the thunder crashed in the Stretching Room, Lee grabbed her hand anyway and twined his fingers tightly with hers. She squeezed his hand and smiled in the dark.

They went from land to land, Kara pointing out all the hidden Mickeys they passed and feeding Lee gossip on the other park employees she knew. They liked the flying rides best, and rode them all, from Dumbo to the Aladdin Magic Carpet one. Kara cheered when she outshot one more alien than Lee managed on the Buzz Lightyear ride, but he cheered just as loud when he beat her at the Indy Speedway. She tried to convince him he’d look really cute in one of those mouse ear hats with his name on the back, but he refused to buy one sadly. They had the entire boat to themselves on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and when Lee whispered that it was kinda spooky all dark and quiet like this, Kara made fun of him, _of course_ , but she shifted a little closer on the bench and hooked an ankle around his.

They hit the coasters last, racing the not inconsiderable distances between Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain and even Space Mountain (where thankfully her uncle wasn’t working tonight). Kara dragged Lee into the front row on all of them and it took her three rides to convince him to let go of the safety bar and raise his arms on the drops. It was nearly two am when they stumbled out of their fifth go-round on Space Mountain. Kara felt a little dizzy herself when Lee gasped, shaking his head, and said no more coasters.

“It’s pretty late anyway. I should get going.”

Kara, who had never met a curfew she didn’t break, frowned. “Will your parents be pissed you’re out this late?”

“Nah, but I know Zak’s probably still up, waiting for me.”

Kara wondered what it’d be like to have a sibling. For a second, she thought it might be nice to have someone who cared about you, looked up to you probably the way Lee’s little brother did. Then she thought of her mother’s scowl and the way her shoulder had thudded into the wall and thought it was better this way.

The mood dampened as they walked back and Lee took her hand again, squeezing it, his thumb rubbing circles against the back of her knuckles, and Kara wasn’t ready for the night to be over yet.

“One more ride?”

“Okay,” he smiled. “You twisted my arm.”

She lead the way, walking quickly, almost pulling Lee behind her, but he stopped short when he saw their destination.

“Kara! We had a deal.”

The candy-colored hues of the exterior of the ride were softened by blue lights and the darkness. “I know, I know, but I promise you, you’ll like it.” She winked at him. “You just gotta know the trick to it.”

He cocked an eyebrow and shook his head at her, muttering a little even as he let Kara pull him through the empty queue anyway. There was no one in line and no one inside, save for the bored teenaged girl minding the ride and Kara climbed into the back of one of the boats, tugging Lee after her. They had just lurched off, bumping slowly along the track into the first tunnel, when Lee leaned in and whispered, “My ears are already bleeding. What’s the trick?”

Kara twisted sideways and grinned, even though her stomach was tying itself in knots again. “No safety bars,” she whispered back, and slid a leg over his thighs, shifting herself onto Lee’s lap. His eyes widened but his arms went around her and pulled her closer. Kara placed a hand on either side of his head, covering his ears, and then she leaned down and pressed her lips to his. 

They stayed on, making countless loops around the little lagoon, until the girl finally shut it down just before three. Kara’s lips felt swollen and her blood buzzed in her veins as they made their way slowly back down main street to the exit. It was nearly ten minutes, preoccupied as she was, that Kara realized Lee hadn’t said anything the whole way out or on the shuttle ride back to the employee lot, and nerves had tightened her stomach again by the time they reached their cars, parked mere slots away from each other.

Kara turned, cleared her throat and forced a smile. “So that was my grand tour of Disney Land,” she said, flourishing an arm. Her voice was light, but she couldn’t keep the note of hopefulness out of it. She hoped she didn’t sound as pathetic as she felt. “What do you think, Lee? Worth the price of admission?”

He looked at her then, his face unreadable. Then he just reached out, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her, mouth fused to hers hard, long enough that Kara’s knees started to feel weak. When he finally pulled back, Lee smiled at her, looked her right in the eyes and said, “Happiest place on Earth.”


End file.
